March 31, 2011. From now on it is
prohibited to use the voice of the pope
for commercial purposes. The Vatican created
this new law to avoid the abuse of Benedict
XVI's voice, as well as the voice of previous popes, for
purposes that the Vatican say would
violate the “honor, reputation, respect and prestige of the
pope.”
The
law specifically copyrights the use of the
voice, but it also includes their
images and writings.
They say this will help
avoid manipulation of
documents from the
papal Magisterium, and to regulate them
from being used for commercial purposes.
The
Vatican is concerned about the creation of
souvenirs that could
be offensive, such as
lollipops or beverages that carry the pope's
image.
They can also denounce
those who abuse the image,
voice or writings of cardinals and bishops from
the papal Curia.
JMB/AE
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